What Causes Projects to Fail?

Projects fail for many reasons. Indeed, when you reflect on everything that can go wrong, it's a wonder that any succeeds. Project success requires that many individual parts function as a cohesive whole. Therefore, team leaders must find ways to overcome myriad obstacles in their quest to achieve that elusive goal: Stakeholder happiness. Projects fail for many reasons. Indeed, when you reflect on everything that can go wrong, it's a wonder that any succeeds. Project success requires that many individual parts function as a cohesive whole. Therefore, team leaders must find ways to overcome myriad obstacles in their quest to achieve that elusive goal: Stakeholder happiness. There are many reasons why projects fail that are directly related to the activities and responsibilities of EAs and other stakeholders. In the following sections, the authors will examine some of the most prevalent. Please note that I've culled all the examples discussed below from personal experience. Interviewers would undoubtedly look askance when listening to such reasoning. Thus, at the risk of stating the obvious, when assuming responsibility for a project, most folks want it to succeed-for any number of reasons.